The Keyblade Master
by Fellykins
Summary: Sora and Riku have just returned home. One night, Misa Kaminski disappears and mysterious creatures start appearing. Sora and Riku must save the day again with the help of Kairi. Takes place after the events of KH2. Riku/Kairi, Sora/OC.
1. Welcome Home

_Another new fanfiction from SpiralingPiplup! This time, it's Kingdom Hearts. For lack of a decent summary in 100 words or less, here's your much better summary. Riku and Sora have just returned to the Destiny Islands. It is there where they reunite with Kairi and another girl who has just recently moved to the islands, Misa Kaminska. One night, there is a bad storm and Misa disappears. Riku begins to hear voices and he realizes that he needs to find Misa and soon. Our story begins on the Destiny Islands… on the date of Riku and Sora's return. This takes place following Kingdom Hearts II. _

The Keyblade Master

Chapter 1 – Welcome Home

A young boy with blue hair that fell to just below his shoulders and his traveling companion, a boy with spiky brown hair, walked onto the Destiny Islands. It was mid-afternoon, and the wind was making the trees sway lightly. The boy with blue hair wore a black shirt, a white and yellow jacket, a single fingerless glove on his left hand that went up to the middle of his arm, just below the elbow, and baggy blue jeans that covered a bit of his black and yellow shoes. His eyes were blue like the ocean behind the boys, and his skin was tanned. The boy with spiky brown hair wore a blue shirt, a black jacket, a necklace with a crown on it around his neck, baggy black shorts with large red pockets, black fingerless gloves, and black and yellow shoes. His eyes were blue like his companion's, though his skin wasn't nearly as tanned as his companion's. These boys were Sora and Riku, respectively.

"Welcome home, Riku," Sora said with a grin. Riku looked at his companion and smiled softly. The boys were obviously happy to be home. They were finally able to relax after their strenuous adventure involving Keyblades and defeating Heartless and Nobodies as well as the entirety of Organization XIII. Out of the corner of his left eye, Riku saw two young girls, one with red hair and the other with blonde, running towards them.

"Riku! Sora! You're home!" the girl with red hair cried as she ran towards the boys. Her friend with the blonde hair was close behind her. The girl with red hair was Kairi; the girl with blonde hair was Misa Kaminska, a girl who had just recently moved to the islands. Kairi had red hair that fell to just below her shoulders. She wore a pink dress, a purple bracelet, a blue bracelet, a white bracelet, and purple shoes. Her eyes were blue like Sora and Riku's, and her skin was lightly tanned. Misa had blonde hair that fell to just above her shoulders. She wore a black dress that fell to just below her knees with black leggings and blue flip-flops. Her eyes were an emerald green that had a slight tint of purple in them, and her skin was pale, yet lightly tanned at the same time. A belt with a few simple charms around it hung loosely around her waist.

"Kairi! You're okay!" Riku said as Kairi hugged him. Riku returned the hug as Sora looked at Misa with a questioning look on his face.

"Who are you?" Sora asked Misa. Kairi broke away from Riku and stepped behind Misa, hugging her from behind and grinning excitedly.

"Oh, sorry, boys. Ehehe, this is my friend Misa Kaminska. She moved here not too long again," Kairi explained. Misa waved shyly as her face turned a light shade of red.

"Hey Misa. I'm Riku. This one over here is Sora," Riku stated. He gestured to Sora when he said his friend's name. Sora also had a light blush on his face.

"So what do you guys want to do?" Kairi asked excitedly. Misa shrugged as she looked up at the darkening sky.

"Dunno. I'm kinda tired," Sora stated, yawning. "I think I'll go home and sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Alright, bye, Sora," Kairi said. Sora smiled to the group one last time before walking off towards his home. Riku and Kairi exchanged a confused look as Misa looked at them.

"Maybe we should find shelter somewhere… it looks like it's going to rain soon," Misa said softly. Riku and Kairi glanced up at the night sky, and then looked back at Misa.

"Misa makes a good point. It's getting kinda cold out here too," Riku stated. Kairi and Misa nodded in agreement.

*-*-*-*-*

Kairi, Riku, and Misa had barely made it into the library before it started raining. They could hear the rain pounding on the roof. The trio made their way to a table and sat down.

"Whew, that was close," Kairi breathed as she leaned back in the chair. Riku and Misa leaned back in their chairs as well. Misa, however, started to stare blankly outside as the rain continued falling harder and harder.

"It's weird though… it wasn't supposed to rain today," Misa said softly. Kairi glanced over at the window to peer outside, and then looked back at Misa.

"She makes a good point. This storm just came out of nowhere," Kairi stated. Riku shrugged as Misa looked back at Kairi and Riku.

"Eh, who cares? All it means is that we're stuck inside for the day," Riku replied. "Not like any Heartless or Nobodies will come popping up out of nowhere. Me and Sora took care of that."

"Yeah… it's probably just an unexpected storm. Let's not worry about it too much," Kairi said. Misa and Riku nodded in agreement.


	2. Invasion of the Nohearts

_Exams are a killer. Luckily, this will be my painkiller. (: I'm sick and all with nothing better to do, so this is what I'm doing. I'm typing up chapter 2 of The Keyblade Master. Heh, I don't really have much to say here except school's out in less than a month now. I'm so excited for summer vacation too. I'll actually be able to write more in between all of the other nice stuff I'll be doing. And for the record, the description of the Nohearts mentioned in the chapter will be given in a future chapter. For now, here's chapter 2 of The Keyblade Master!_

The Keyblade Master

Chapter 2 – Invasion of the Nohearts

Three days later, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Misa noticed that things were slowly starting to change on the Destiny Islands. The small group was headed to school one day when they were sidetracked because they saw a moving shadow. Sora could've sworn that it was a Heartless. Just yesterday, Riku thought he saw a Nobody, but it was just a small child dressing up as a ghost to scare his friend.

Today, the group was sitting on one of the piers at the beach. Sora and Riku had gathered up a bunch of rocks to play a game of skipping rocks on the water to see who could get the most skips. Each boy had fifteen rocks; the winner owed the loser fifty gold. Misa and Kairi were sitting around simply watching the boys finish up their game.

"Hah! Six skips, Riku! Beat that!" Sora exclaimed as he picked up his last rock. Riku simply shrugged as he tossed his rock, watching it make multiple skips across the water.

"Eight," Riku said calmly after his rock sank into the sparkling blue ocean. He picked up his last rock just as Sora tossed his last rock with amazing strength. Just as his rock made its eleventh skip, a bandaged hand reached up from the sparkling blue waters and grabbed the rock. Kairi and Misa slowly stood up and watched the bandaged hand disappear into the water only to return seconds later complete as a bandaged person.

"Hey! Who do you think you are, interrupting our game like that?" Sora yelled as the bandaged person slowly approached the group. No response was given as the bandaged man held out his hand. A bright light was seen, and then a standard Keyblade appeared in its hand.

"Whoa! A Keyblade!" Riku exclaimed. Sora's eyes widened slightly as he watched the bandaged person stop and point its Keyblade at Misa.

"Give me the girl," it said. The voice was deep and slightly gruff and hoarse. Misa's eyes widened as she gasped quietly; she had recognized the voice and backed away slowly. Kairi looked from Misa to the bandaged person and scowled.

"Who the heck do you think you are? You can't just come barging in here trying to take her away like this!" Kairi yelled. Suddenly, Kairi was sent flying backwards to land in the sand at the end of the pier. Riku and Misa ran over to Kairi to see if she was okay while Sora held his hand out. Seconds later, a Keyblade with a yellow star on it appeared in Sora's hand; this was the Oathkeeper Keyblade. The bandaged person lunged at Sora, attempting to attack the young, spiky haired boy, but he blocked it with ease.

"You'll have to try harder than that! Maybe if you take those bandages off, you'll be able to concentrate better," Sora said with a grin as he pushed the bandaged person back. The bandaged person took Sora's suggestion, slowly unwrapping the bandages around his head. As the bandages fell, one could see black hair that fell to the person's shoulders. The person had a slight beard, as if he hadn't shaved in a while. His black hair covered his eyes.

"Alright… now I am ready for battle," the man said. He lunged at Sora again; just as he was about to strike Sora with his Keyblade, Sora swung his own Keyblade at the mysterious man. The attack was blocked with ease, and the man knocked Sora down with ease. He then held his hand up and looked up into the sky.

"I call upon you, my beasts. Come to me, my Nohearts," the man said softly. Sora turned around and watched a circle of black and white creatures appear around Riku, Kairi, and Misa. Sora jumped up and tried to attack one of the creatures, but he was knocked back to the edge of the pier. "It is no use. They are immune to your attacks."

"What the hell do you mean they're immune to my attacks? And an even better question! What the hell are they?" Sora asked in a frustrated tone. He slowly stood back up and took three steps back so that he wouldn't fall off of the pier.

"They are called Nohearts. They are immune to your attacks because I have a barrier around them. If the barrier was not around them, you would be able to hit them. Now enough small talk. My Nohearts, please grab the girl with blonde hair and bring her to me," the man said. The Nohearts lunged, pushing Riku and Kairi aside when they attempted to protect Misa. The black and white creatures grabbed Misa and floated over to their master.

"Give her back!" Kairi yelled as she ran up to the edge of the pier. Sora grabbed her and pulled her back so that she wouldn't run off of the pier. Riku ran up as well, stopping just behind Sora and Kairi.

"I am afraid I can't do that. You see, we need this girl for some of our operations. She can do things beyond your imagination. I doubt you will ever see her again. Farewell," the man said before disappearing in thin air. When the man disappeared, Misa went with him.

"Damn it, he's not getting away with this!" Sora yelled. His Keyblade had disappeared from his hand by this point.

"I think we should get some answers… perhaps we should head to Radiant Garden and see if anyone there can help us," Riku said softly. Kairi looked at him curiously with her arms folded across her chest.

"How are we going to get there?" Kairi asked. Riku immediately developed a blank expression as he looked from Kairi to Sora.

"I think I can get Donald and Goofy to bring us a Gummi Ship, but it would take some time. I'll see what I can do," Sora said. Kairi and Riku nodded; Sora grinned once more, and then ran off.

"I guess we just have to wait now," Riku said softly. Kairi nodded in response. They could only hope that Donald and Goofy would help them… and they could only hope that Misa was safe.


	3. The Beginning of an Adventure

_Less than a week left until my sophomore year is over! I'm so excited. I made myself a yearbook with colored computer paper and whatnot. I'm too cheap to buy a legit yearbook 'cause they're sixty-five dollars, and it's my sophomore year. If it was like, my senior year or I wasn't going back to that school again, I could understand. But I'm not switching schools, so it's all good. My theatre teacher told me that I should get up on stage and do acting stuff. Perhaps I'll audition for one act festival next year. It'd be nice to have that on my record. (: At any rate, here's chapter three of The Keyblade Master._

The Keyblade Master

Chapter 3 – The Beginning of a New Adventure

A few days after the kidnapping of Misa, Donald and Goofy had arrived with a Gummi Ship. Sora had stayed back to talk to Donald and Goofy while Riku and Kairi started getting the supplies they needed on their ship. Riku and Kairi had just finished loading supplies onto the ship when Sora finished the story of what had happened recently and what they needed the Gummi Ship for.

"We want to help," Donald said. Goofy nodded in agreement.

"Why?" Sora asked curiously.

"We helped you with the Heartless and the Nobodies, didn't we? Why not help you with these Nohearts or whatever it is they're called?" Donald replied. Sora shrugged, and then looked to Kairi and Riku.

"We'll probably need all of the help that we can get. There's no way we'll be able to do this on our own," Riku said. Kairi nodded in agreement, and moments later, Sora did as well.

"Alright, then, perhaps we should head to Radiant Garden first. Maybe Leon or someone will have some information about these Nohearts that will help us out," Sora said. Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy nodded in agreement. They all boarded the Gummi Ship and flew off into the beautiful blue sky.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Radiant Garden was a beautiful place when the sun was setting. The fountains of water that were around the city reflected the sunlight quite well. It nearly blinded the group as they got off of their Gummi Ship.

"So where should we go to try and find Leon?" Kairi asked. A stranger that was passing by seemed to have heard them and approached them.

"I heard Leon spends most of his time in the Bailey. If you hurry, you might be able to find him there," the stranger said. Sora and Riku exchanged a look before running off towards the Bailey. Donald, Goofy, and Kairi followed after them moments later.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

The Bailey was a place that connected the different parts of Radiant Garden together. Part of the wall seemed to have been blown off, though it also looked like it had been repaired partially as well. Sora and Riku arrived in the Bailey to see Leon fighting off some of the same Nohearts that had surrounded them when they tried to save Misa from being kidnapped. Leon glanced behind him for a split second to see Sora and Riku and grinned.

"Sora! Riku! Give me a hand here!" Leon called back as he continued fighting off the Nohearts. Donald, Goofy, and Kairi had just arrived when Sora and Riku ran into the battle with their weapons in hand.

"We'll help you out too, guys!" Donald called. Some of the Nohearts that had managed to get past Leon, Sora, and Riku started making their way towards Donald, Goofy, and Kairi. Goofy stood in front of Donald and Kairi, ready to protect them from the Nohearts that were heading towards them. Donald began casting a barrage of spells while Kairi stepped back a bit so that she wouldn't get too involved in the battle. Although Kairi could wield a Keyblade, she wasn't that skilled in the art of fighting, so she didn't want to take any chances of fighting.

After a few moments, the Nohearts were finally defeated. Now that they were all gone, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy were sitting on the ground resting with Leon. All of them seemed exhausted except for Kairi, who simply passed out healing items so that the group's wounds could be healed.

"So why are you guys here?" Leon asked.

"We were wondering if you could help us out with these Nohearts," Sora replied. Leon sighed as he shifted slightly.

"That's what they're called?" Leon asked. The expression on his face showed that this was his first encounter with the Nohearts.

"Yeah. Are you saying this is your first time seeing them?" Riku replied. Leon nodded slowly.

"At any rate, I'll see what I can do to help you guys. Let's go to Merlin's house before any more of those… what did you call them? Nohearts? Well, whatever they're called let's get to Merlin's house before we meet them again," Leon stated. The rest of the group nodded and began walking towards Merlin's house with Leon.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Merlin's house looked the exact same that it had before when Sora had last seen it. Sora and his friends sat down at a table large enough to accommodate all of them as Yuffie brought them all some water.

"So these Nohearts… what are they exactly?" Aerith asked as she joined them at the table. Her hair was down instead of being tied back into a long braid.

"They're these creatures that are black and white in color… I couldn't really tell what they looked like. The guy who controls them though, he was a guy with shoulder length black hair and a slight beard. He had a Keyblade too," Sora explained. Aerith slowly nodded as Cid walked into the room. As usual, he was smoking a cigarette.

"A Keyblade, eh? Well, I say you guys rest and we'll try and find out some information on this guy, okay?" Cid suggested. Sora and his friends nodded. Aerith stood up and led the group into a large room with enough beds for each of them.

"You guys get some rest. After breakfast tomorrow, we'll tell you what we've found out if there's anything at all," Aerith said softly. The group nodded as they settled into their beds and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.


	4. Nohearts

_And I'm officially a junior! Yes! :D It doesn't feel any different. Maybe it will when I go back to school in September. But anyways, now that I'm on summer vacation, I'll have more time to get some chapters for this fanfic out~ So for now, enjoy chapter 4 of The Keyblade Master!_

The Keyblade Master

Chapter 4 – Nohearts

The sun rose over the shorter buildings in Radiant Garden the following morning. Birds could be heard chirping just outside of the window of the room that Sora and his companions were staying at. Sora yawned and stretched as he sat up. He looked around the room, rubbing at his eyes as he did so. Riku and Kairi were already gone; Sora assumed they had already gone down for breakfast.

In the kitchen, Sora saw Riku and Kairi sitting at a table eating breakfast. Leon and Cid were also there at the table, but neither of them was eating breakfast. Sora joined them at the table as Aerith placed plates in front of Leon and Cid. She smiled at Sora before returning to the stove to prepare a plate for Sora.

"It's about time you woke up, Sora. We've been waiting on you to wake up before we started breakfast," Cid stated bluntly. Sora shrugged innocently as Aerith placed a plate of food in front of Sora before sitting down next to him.

"Oh… sorry. I didn't think I would sleep in this late," Sora apologized. "So did you guys get any information on the Nohearts?"

"Yes, but not much. We'll show you guys after breakfast," Leon said. Sora nodded as he began eating his breakfast.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

After breakfast, Sora and his companions followed Leon and Cid into a room with a bunch of computers. There was a faint humming coming from each of the computers, indicating that they were on. Cid began typing some things in, pulling up the small amount of information on the Nohearts.

"This is all we have. We know they're led by a guy named Isaac Canesly, who created the Nohearts as an experiment gone wrong. When the experiment went wrong, Canesly disappeared. What was left was the Nohearts, strange black and white creatures with no hearts and no feelings… monsters created to fight. They appear to be able to do anything to creating weapons and casting magic, although they have a fatal weakness," Leon explained.

"And what's that?" Riku asked. Leon closed his eyes and sighed, reopening his eyes moments later.

"There's a special device that Canesly made when he created the Nohearts. If this device is found, it can control the Nohearts and even destroy them," Leon replied. Sora's face instantly lit up.

"Then all we have to do is find the device!" Sora said excitedly. Leon shook his head, which made Sora's bright expression fade away. "What? Why are you shaking your head like that, Leon?"

"It's not that easy, Sora. The building that Canesly was working in was destroyed. All that's left there are ruins… I doubt you'll find anything there," Cid explained. "You can go investigate though. You might find something."

Sora looked at his companions, who nodded at him. They seemed just as eager to figure this out as Sora was.

"Alright, we'll go. Can you tell us where it is, Cid?" Sora replied. Cid nodded and began typing things into the computer once more. Leon turned around and looked at Sora and his companions.

"I'm going with you. Sure you have Donald and Goofy traveling with you, but you'll probably need more than that. No one knows what's lurking there," Leon said. Sora looked at his companions, who nodded in agreement with Leon.

"I've sent the coordinates to your Gummi Ship. You should probably go now if you want to be back by nightfall," Cid said. Sora and his companions nodded as they left the control room.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Just outside of Radiant Garden, Donald and Goofy could be seen standing outside of the Gummi Ship. Donald was tapping his foot on the ground impatiently as Sora and his companions approached them.

"It's about time! We've been here for hours!" Donald yelled.

"Sorry. I kind of overslept…" Sora said apologetically. Donald sighed and shook his head.

"Whatever. What are we doing?" Donald asked grumpily.

"We're going to investigate some ruins. There's a possibility that a device may be there that can control or even destroy the Nohearts," Leon explained. Donald nodded as he and Goofy hopped into the Gummi Ship. The remainder of the group followed Goofy in.

"Alright guys! Get ready to—" Donald was cut off by the shock of the Gummi Ship shooting off suddenly. "Gooooooo! Ahhhh, I'm having Cid look at this thing when we get baaaack!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\

The ruins appeared to be mostly rubble as Sora noticed when he first got off of the Gummi Ship with his companions behind him. He looked around the large amount of rubble that was there. If they stuck together, it would take them ages to search it all for this one device.

"Maybe we should split up," Kairi suggested.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Kairi," Sora replied, grinning. He looked around and nodded. "Alright, groups of two then since there's six of us. Kairi and Riku, Donald and Goofy, and Leon and I. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good," the remainder of the group replied.

"We'll meet back here in an hour," Sora said. Everyone nodded as Donald and Goofy walked off and began exploring the ruins. Riku and Kairi followed after them, going in a different direction. Sora sighed as he followed after Leon.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Elsewhere, a large black and white creature could be seen resting. It seemed to be covering something with one of its large paws. The creature grunted as it shifted slightly to get more comfortable. A woman with short blonde hair could be seen in the shadows.

"Hah. I'd love to see the looks on the faces of those brats when they realize this is a fake device," the woman said, laughing and grinning evilly.


	5. Fake Devices

_So Microsoft Word decided to be a little piece of crap today. Now it's totally useless for me. Ah well. Thankfully WordPad does the same thing, and it preserves italics and whatnot. So looks like I'll be using WordPad from now on. Enjoy chapter five of The Keyblade Master! (It may be the last one you see before I go back to school depending on how much time I have between now and September 7th.)_

The Keyblade Master

Chapter 5 - Fake Devices

Sora sighed as he sat down on a pile of rubble. Leon took a seat on another pile across from him. They had been searching for well over an hour only to find nothing. Leon leaned back and looked into the sky, but he jumped when he heard a loud scream.

"Did you hear that?" Sora asked. Leon nodded as he stood up.

"It sounded like it came from that way. Let's go," Leon replied. He gestured towards the north before running off in that direction. Sora jumped up and followed after him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Riku and Kairi had stopped as well, sitting together on a large pile of rubble. Kairi was snuggled up in Riku's arms.

"Riku, I'm scared," Kairi said softly. Riku gently tightened his grip around her.

"Don't worry, Kairi. I'm here. I'll protect you," Riku replied. Kairi smiled as she snuggled into Riku's grip. Her smile faded away when she heard someone screaming.

"W-what was that?" Kairi asked nervously. Riku released his grip on Kairi and stood up, sighing as he did so.

"It sounded like someone was screaming. Come on, let's go," Riku said. He ran off in the northeasterly direction with Kairi running after him to catch up.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Donald sighed as he sat down near the Gummi Ship. Goofy was with him, and he was also sitting down.

"I wonder where they are. It's been over an hour now," Goofy said. Donald nodded in agreement.

"They're probably on their way back," Donald replied.

"Or maybe they found something," Goofy suggested which made Donald shrug. The short-tempered duck jumped up from his sitting position when the screaming was heard.

"Or maybe they were sidetracked by that!" Donald said. "Come on, Goofy! We're gonna go see what that is!"

Donald ran off towards the source of the screaming. Goofy sighed as he stood up and chased after his companion.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

A woman wearing a blue cloak with the hood over her head is seen dodging attacks from the large, dog-like black and white creature. In her hand is a device that seems to be controlling the creature.

"Come on, doggie! You can't be tired already! You gotta fight those annoying kids!" the woman said sadistically. Around the dog's neck was a device similar to the one that the woman was holding. Suddenly, the dog let out a large yelp of pain as a large stick hit it's head. The dog fell to the ground, whimpering as it did so. The woman spun around to see Sora and Leon with their Keyblade and Gunblade respectively.

"Hey! Were you the one screaming?" Sora asked. The woman nodded as she slowly approached Sora and Leon with her hands behind her back.

"Yes, I'm glad you two came when you did. I should probably get out of here. Thanks for your help," the woman stated as she walked away. Riku and Kairi arrived just as she started walking away with Donald and Goofy close behind them.

"You're welcome!" Sora said as the girl walked away. The dog slowly stood up and swung it's large paw at Sora, causing everyone to duck. Leon shoved Sora down to the ground just as the monster's paw came by Leon's head.

"Whoa! I thought that thing would've been down for the count!" Sora exclaimed as Leon got off of him. He pushed himself into a seated position as the creature loomed over them.

"Look at what's on its neck though!" Kairi said as she pointed at the creature's neck. On a black chain was the device that they had come looking for. Leon shook his head, however.

"I doubt it's supposed to be this easy, Kairi, but we won't know for sure until we can get our hands on the device," Leon stated. Everyone else nodded in agreement as Kairi took a few steps back. "Sora, Riku. You two try and get the device. The rest of us will distract it."

Sora and Riku nodded as they stepped forward with their Keyblades in hand. Leon and Goofy stood behind them while Donald stood next to Kairi. The creature roared just as Sora and Riku ran towards it. The monster swung at them as they got closer.

"Riku, now!" Sora yelled as he jumped over the creature's paw. Riku jumped up as well, grabbing Sora's leg as he did so. Riku landed on the creature's paw, then threw Sora towards the creature's neck, where the device was located. The attempt was unsuccessful as Sora slid underneath the creature, completely avoiding it's neck. Riku jumped back just as the creature turned around to face Sora.

"Leon, can you and Goofy throw me up so that I can get onto that creature's back?" Riku asked. Leon and Goofy exchanged a glance before running up to Riku and picking him up.

"Ready?" Goofy asked. Riku nodded just as Leon and Goofy swung him back. They threw him up in the air towards the creature moments later. Their attempt nearly failed... that is until Riku grabbed the creature's tail. He swung around and landed on its back, causing it roar loudly.

"Sora, grab it now!" Riku yelled as he ran forward. He grabbed the chain on the creature's neck just as Sora leaped up to grab the device. Riku saw Sora running away with the device in his hand, so Riku leaped off of the creature, using the chain around it's neck as a rope of sorts.

"Kairi, why don't you see if you can figure this thing out while we distract big and ugly here?" Sora suggested. He handed the device to Kairi, who took it and stared at it blankly.

"But... what am I supposed to do?" Kairi asked. She looked horribly confused and lost.

"Just push random buttons. If nothing happens after awhile, we'll just have to kill this dog thing," Riku replied. He gently patted Kairi on the back and gave her a soft smile before running towards the creature with Sora and Leon by his side. Goofy was right behind them and leaped over them, slamming his shield into the creature's head. Kairi began pushing random buttons while Sora, Riku, Leon, and Goofy attacked from close up and Donald used his long range magic.

After about twenty minutes, Kairi threw the device down on the ground, giving up completely. She had gone from confused and lost to frustrated in a matter of twenty minutes.

"I give up! I've pushed every single button on that stupid thing at least ten times, if not more! Just kill the stupid thing already!" Kairi yelled in frustration. She bent down and picked up the device, throwing it at the dog-like creature. It hit the creature's head, although it didn't seem fazed by it at all.

"Alright, guys. Let's finish this!" Leon yelled. He leaped up into the air, slamming his Gunblade into the creature's back. Sora and Riku did the same thing with their Keyblades. Goofy leaped up and slammed his shield into the creature's head. The dog-like creature fell to the ground with its eyes closed. It let out a loud, defeated roar as it collapsed. Leon picked up the device from the ground and examined it.

"This has to be a fake. Kairi pushed every button on here; something should've happened," Leon mumbled. He threw the device at the defeated creature and sighed.

"So coming here was just a big waste of time then?" Donald asked in an annoyed tone. Leon nodded, which made Donald sigh in annoyance. "Great! Then let's get back to the Gummi Ship and get back to Radiant Garden! I'm hungry!"

"When we get back, we can do some more research. I have a feeling that woman had something to do with this creature back there," Leon stated as they walked back towards the Gummi Ship. Donald glared at Leon, who shrugged.

"We can eat too, Donald. Don't worry," Leon replied. The group, excluding Donald, laughed as the short-tempered duck smiled happily.


	6. Rumors

_Hm, hm. I want some pizza. Irrelevant note though. So today, I bring you the sixth chapter of The Keyblade Master. It'll probably be the last chapter you see for awhile. I go back to school for my junior year on September 7th, and I doubt that I'll be able to type up another chapter before then. (Unless some sort of miracle happens or whatever. I doubt that'll happen though.) Enjoy the sixth chapter though! (:_

The Keyblade Master

Chapter 6 - Rumors

Three weeks have passed since Sora and his companions traveled to the ruins. They returned to Radiant Garden worn out and hungry. Not to mention they didn't find anything at all. Sora and Leon described the black and white dog-like creature and the woman with short blonde hair who was wearing a blue cloak. Cid and Aerith spent whatever time, time that wasn't already spent eating or sleeping, researching the black and white dog-like creature and the blonde woman.

Neither Cid nor Aerith had found any information on the dog-like creature or the mysterious woman. They continued to spend whatever free time they had researching the creature and woman. Riku and Kairi were spending their free time together. Sora rarely saw them anymore because they were always together. To keep himself occupied, Sora spent time with Leon and Yuffie, getting trained by them. Donald and Goofy usually tagged along on these training sessions. That is... until Cid and Aerith finally found something after three weeks of research.

"Sora! Leon! Riku! Kairi! Donald! Goofy!" Aerith called. Everyone that was called, excluding Riku and Kairi, ran inside and into the computer room. On the screen was information about the dog-like creature and the blonde woman that Sora and Leon had described. Aerith and Yuffie followed Donald, who was the last person to enter the room before them, in. Yuffie, who was the last person into the room, closed the door behind her as she entered the room.

"What's up, Cid?" Sora asked. Cid spun around in the chair that he was in, looking at everyone who was in the room.

"Where are Riku and Kairi?" Cid asked.

"Who cares? They're probably off somewhere doing shit that nobody even cares about!" Sora exclaimed. He sounded extremely frustrated. Cid just shook his head and turned back around to face the computer screens, which now had large images of the dog-like creature and the blonde woman.

"Right. I'm sure one of you can fill Riku and Kairi in when you see them," Cid stated. He clicked on the picture of the dog-like creature. A black and white hourglass appeared on the screen before a smaller picture of the creature as well as a bunch of text appeared on the screen. "This is a Deshelle. As you can see, it's a large, black and white dog-like creature. Along with its powerful swipes, it can also breathe fire. It is one of the Nohearts' strongest monsters, and as such, it has the power to control other, weaker Nohearts."

"It can be defeated though, right?" Sora asked.

"Anything can be defeated, Sora. You just have to put your mind to it," Aerith replied. Cid nodded in agreement before going back to the screen with the screen with the large picture. He clicked on the picture of the blonde woman, which appeared about two minutes after Cid clicked on it.

"Moving on, this is Samantha. I have yet to find her last name. She's known for fooling people and getting them to do things for her. That may be how she got you to run into that Deshelle. She has this ability that allows her to change her appearance as well," Cid stated. He turned to face the group as soon as he finished speaking. "This is all just a bunch of rumors though. For all we know, this could all be something that somebody made up."

"Well, we'll just have to find that out ourselves. Have there been any Noheart sightings lately?" Leon asked. Cid shrugged, pointing to Aerith. He had obviously busied himself with finding the information on Samantha and the Deshelle, leaving Aerith to keep an eye on the Noheart sightings.

"There were some Nohearts sighted in Neverland. If you go there, you might be able to find some information while eliminating the Nohearts in that area," Aerith stated. Sora nodded before walking out of the room. Donald and Goofy followed after him.

"Yuffie, would you mind coming with us this time? I figure we'll need all of the help we can get," Leon stated. Yuffie nodded as she and Leon walked out of the room.

"Goofy, can you go find Riku and Kairi so we can go?" Sora asked. His voice sounded annoyed and frustrated, but Goofy nodded and walked out of the house just as Leon and Yuffie were walking into the room.

"Meet us at the Gummi Ship too!" Donald yelled. There was an incoherent response from Goofy, but Donald huffed, leaving the remainder of the group to wonder what he had said.

"Shall we go to the Gummi Ship and wait for them then?" Yuffie asked. Donald nodded before leaving the house. The remainder of the group followed after their duck companion.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

At the Gummi Ship, Sora, Leon, and Yuffie were sitting on the ground in a trianglular shape. In the center of the triangle was a deck of cards. Next to the deck of cards was a single red card with the number eight on it. Sora, Leon, and Yuffie each had seven cards in their hand.

"Red seven," Sora said. He placed a red card with the number seven on it on top of the red eight card.

"Red one," Leon stated. He lazily tossed another red card with the number one on it onto of the red seven card.

"Blue one," Yuffie said. She placed a card, this time it was a blue card with the number one on it, on top of the red one card. Sora grinned; he seemed grateful for the change in color as he was out of red cards already.

"Sorry, Leon, but blue skip," Sora said with a grin. He placed a blue card with a 'S' on it on top of the blue one card. This meant that Leon's turn was skipped, causing him to scowl.

"I'll get you back later, Sora. Just watch," Leon stated. Yuffie placed a blue card with a 'R' on it on top of the blue skip card. This meant that play was reversed. It was now Leon's turn.

"Time to get revenge," Leon said evilly. He was about to play a black card with the word wild written on it and four cards in yellow, blue, red, and green when Donald yelped for joy and jumped up upon seeing Goofy, Riku, and Kairi.

"They're here! Put away your silly card game, you three! It's time to head to Neverland!" Donald exclaimed as he hopped in the Gummi Ship. Yuffie picked up the cards and put them in her pocket.

"Why are we going to Neverland?" Riku asked as he entered the Gummi Ship.

"I'll explain on the way," Yuffie replied as she entered the Gummi Ship after Leon.

"It's all just a bunch of rumors though," Leon added.


	7. Never Neverland

_I survived the first week of my junior year. Admittedly, it was only four days, but I survived. The fact that I survived means a lot to me. There's still like thirty more weeks or something like that left. I'm not a math person, and I'm too lazy to count, so yeah. My brain is mush right now, but I'm still going to try and properly type up a chapter of The Keyblade Master. Please enjoy this chapter, regardless of it's horrible spelling and grammar, which I will hopefully not fail at._

The Keyblade Master

Chapter 7 - Never Neverland

Night time in Neverland was beautiful. The street lamps were on, the buildings were illuminated by light, and the full moon illuminated places that had little to no light. The moon also made a floating pirate ship in the sky visible. Neverland's trademark place was the clock tower, located in the center of the town.

The group landed in a small clearing not too far from the town. Donald and Goofy led the way into the town with everyone else following behind them. Riku and Kairi had been filled in on the trip there; however, they had no plan of action.

"So what are we going to do?" Riku asked. Everyone except Sora shrugged.

"We try and find Peter Pan first of all. Maybe then we'll be able to get some clues," Sora stated. Suddenly, a sparkling yellow light flew by the group. A gasp escaped Sora's lips; he recognized the sparkling yellow light.

"What? What's wrong, Sora?" Kairi asked. Sora ignored her and began running after the sparkling yellow light.

"Sora, wait up!" Riku called. The group ran after Sora, who was already much farther than the rest of the group.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

The sparkling fairy continued running, but it stopped near a person in a green outfit. Sora ran into the person, knocking both of them back onto the ground.

"Whoa! Watch where you're going there, buddy!" Sora exclaimed in surprise. He leaped up to his feet, but he gasped when he realized who he ran into. "Peter! Peter Pan!"

"Sora? Is that you?" the person in the green outfit asked. Sora nodded as he held out his hand, which Peter took as he got to his feet. "It's nice to see you again!"

"Yeah, it really is!" Sora replied happily. Peter grinned as he pushed some of his orange hair out of his face. It had grown out since Sora had last seen him.

"Sora! There you are!" Yuffie cried. She and the rest of the group had finally arrived. "Don't do that again!"

"Oh, sorry guys. I just recognized that sparkling yellow light, so I had to follow it," Sora explained. The group began murmuring amongst themselves, but ultimately, it was Donald and Goofy who spoke up next.

"Wait! Now I remember you! You're Peter Pan!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed. They looked at each other for a second before looking back at Peter Pan. "That was weird."

"Hey, Donald and Goofy," Peter replied. He looked at the rest of the group with a grin. "By the way, I'm Peter Pan. Nice to meet you guys."

"I'm Riku. Nice to meet you too."

"I'm Kairi."

"I'm Leon."

"I'm Kairi. Nice to meet you."

"So now that we've got the introductions out of the way, we have something we need to ask you, Peter," Leon stated.

"Go ahead," Peter replied.

"Have you seen any strange black and white creatures around here?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, they usually hang around the clock tower. Maybe you guys should rest up though. There's a lot of them, and you guys look tired. Not to mention it's kinda late here," Peter replied.

"Sounds like a good idea. We can check out the clock tower tomorrow," Sora stated. Peter began walking away while the rest of the group followed him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

The following morning, Sora woke up to an annoying sound. He had no idea what it was or where it was coming from; he just knew that it was annoying. Groaning, Sora got up and slowly dragged his feet into the kitchen.

"What is that annoying noise?" Sora sleepily mumbled as he began to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

"It's the clock tower. It's noon, Sora," Leon replied. Sora's face went from sleepy to surprised in a matter of seconds.

"What? It's noon already?" Sora asked. Peter waved his hand dismissively at Sora.

"If it makes you feel any better, those creatures you were talking about last night don't show up until after it gets dark outside," Peter replied. He placed a large bowl with salad in it on the table.

"Oh... well then, I guess I'll join you guys for some lunch then," Sora stated as he sat down in between Leon and Riku. He grabbed the tongs and piled some salad onto his plate before digging in.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

That evening, Sora and his companions travelled to the clock tower. They went by flying, which took quite some time as they had to teach Riku, Kairi, Leon, and Yuffie how to fly. Nevertheless, they managed to successfully arrive at the clock tower with no casualties.

"So now what do we do?" Riku asked as he sat down.

"We wait for the Nohearts to show up," Sora replied. Peter developed a confused expression on his face upon hearing of the Nohearts.

"Nohearts? What are those?" Peter asked.

"Those black and white creatures we told you about last night," Leon replied.

"Oh... so those things?" Peter asked. He pointed to several black and white creatures with wings hovering not too far from the group. They also had bows and arrows.

"Yes, those guys," Leon groaned as he took out his gunblade.

"This is gonna be one long night," Sora groaned.


	8. Arrows In The Night Sky

_Firstly, I would like to wish all of my readers a very happy holiday season! I hope you're all enjoying it! 2011 is coming very soon, and in just one week, balls fall from the sky to start off the new year. (: Enjoy your holidays, and enjoy this chapter! I'll see you in 2011!_

The Keyblade Master

Chapter 8 – Arrows In The Night Sky

Keyblades materialized, a gunblade and dagger were drawn, a staff and shield materialized as well, and Kairi backed away from the fighters with Tinkerbell floating around her. Sora and Leon were the first to lunge forward at the Ranger Nohearts. Goofy and Peter Pan followed behind them as fireballs shot down from the sky and hit a few Nohearts that were headed for Donald and Kairi.

Things continued like this for quite awhile. It wasn't until about ten or so minutes into the battle that the fighters regrouped and reconsidered their battle plan. The Ranger Nohearts just kept materializing, and they certainly weren't stopping any time soon.

"I think we need to do this a different way. They just keep materializing. We'll get exhausted eventually. We can't keep on going like this," Leon stated. The others nodded in agreement.

"I think Goofy and Peter should go and find out where these Nohearts are coming from. Once they find out, they should eliminate the source. Maybe that'll keep them from materializing every time we destroy one," Sora suggested.

"Good idea. We'll go do that and meet back up here later," Goofy stated. He flew off into the night sky with Peter Pan following alongside him.

"I suppose we should get back to fighting these Nohearts. We might as well try to lower their ranks. The less we have to fight later, the better for us," Leon stated, sighing. Sora, Riku, and Leon flew towards the Ranger Nohearts yet again, entering at different locations and wiping them out as if they were nothing. Donald continued to protect Kairi and help the his friends from a distance, using long range and healing magic to keep his teammates safe.

Meanwhile, Peter Pan and Goofy followed the trail of Nohearts headed for the clock tower. They were taking out any that were getting in their way, but the trail was certainly leading them to the source. There was a star in the sky that was shining brighter than any of the others, and that's where Goofy and Peter Pan were headed.

"There's so many of them. I hope Sora and the others are holding out okay," Goofy mused aloud.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. If not, once we get rid of the source, we can go help them," Peter Pan replied. Goofy nodded, and he began flying faster towards the shining star with Peter Pan flying alongside him.

They reached the shining star, and Peter Pan took out a rock and threw it at the star. The star exploded into fireworks, which flew into the night sky. Goofy and Peter Pan were knocked back by the explosion, and any nearby Nohearts were destroyed by it.

Back with the others, the remainder of the group regrouped yet again after the explosion. Even the Nohearts were distracted by it.

"What do you think that was?" Sora asked.

"I dunno, but it looked like one of the stars blew up. The Nohearts appear to be distracted by it though," Leon replied.

"Maybe that was their source. Maybe that's what was making them materialize so much," Yuffie chimed in.

"Perhaps it'll be easier to take them out now," Riku said. The rest of the group nodded, and everyone returned to their fighting locations, continuing to take out Nohearts as quickly as they could. It wasn't until another explosion occurred that the everyone looked at what used to be the source of the Nohearts in shock.

"Hey, guys! We got rid of the source!" Peter Pan called as he and Goofy plowed through a group of Nohearts, destroying them rather effectively. As Sora watched Peter Pan and Goofy plow through the Nohearts, it gave him an idea.

"I have an idea of how we can get rid of the rest of them," Sora said.

"How?" Peter Pan asked. Sora grinned, and then laughed, which made Peter Pan develop a confused expression on his face.

"I'm surprised you don't know. You know how you and Goofy plowed through the Nohearts?" Sora replied. Peter Pan and Goofy nodded. "We could do that with all of us. Donald could stay back and protect Kairi in case any of them stray from our path, but there's six of us fighting, so we could split up into two groups of three and finish them a lot faster."

"Sounds like a plan! Who's gonna be in what group though?" Peter Pan asked.

"Well, me, you, and Goofy can be one group, and Riku, Leon, and Yuffie can be the other group. How does that sound?" Sora replied.

"Sounds good with me," everyone except Donald, Kairi, and Sora chorused. Sora nodded, and he flew off with Peter Pan and Goofy alongside him. Leon, Riku, and Yuffie flew with them, but they stopped away from the others, facing the opposite direction.

"You guys ready?" Sora asked.

"We're ready!" Leon called back.

"Awesome! On the count of three, we go! One... two..." Sora began.

"THREE!" the fighters yelled at the same time. As soon as they yelled three, the two groups flew through the Nohearts, plowing through them just as Peter Pan and Goofy had done moments ago. It didn't take them long to finish, and when they were done, a third explosion occurred.

"What's up with all of these explosions? I'm getting really sick of them!" Donald yelled, waving his arms above him like a madman.

"Look! There's another one!" Kairi yelled, pointing at the large black and white human-like creature that emerged from the explosion.

"Hopefully that's the last one," Goofy groaned.

"Agreed. I'm getting sick of fighting these Nohearts," Sora groaned. The creature roared and lunged towards Kairi, but Riku jumped in front of her and stabbed the Noheart, causing it to fly backwards in pain. It was yelling in pain when Leon and Goofy slammed their respective weapons on the Noheart's head.

"Ready to finish this guy off, Donald, Sora?" Yuffie asked, grinning. Sora and Donald nodded, and so Sora and Yuffie flew forward, stabbing the creature with their own weapons. They were thrown back seconds later when Donald's grand finale had caused another, this time not intentional explosion.

"Sorry, you two!" Donald called as Sora and Yuffie recovered.

"It's fine!" Sora and Yuffie called back.

Suddenly, a bright, shining light appeared in the sky. It was very similar to the star that Peter Pan and Goofy had destroyed not too long ago. The only difference was that this was a bright light and that there was someone coming out of the light.

"I see you've destroyed all of my Ranger Nohearts and their sector leader... well, let's see if you can defeat me, the grandmaster of the Ranger Nohearts..." the person said as they exited the light, which wasn't even fading away.


	9. Ranger Danger

_As I type this chapter up, I'm working on my Discrete Math project. Weeeee~ The chocolate cake is cooling off, so I'll be icing that with chocolate icing later. I'm working on the poster part of it now, and there's a written portion that I completely forgot about. My teacher is gonna have to deal with the fact that it's handwritten and not typed. Ah well, I'll get it all done, as well as this chapter. Enjoy! (:_

The Keyblade Master

Chapter 9 – Ranger Danger

The grandmaster of the Ranger Nohearts was a rather mysterious man. He wore a sky blue cloak, but the hood was down, revealing his worn face. The cloak was buttoned up, so one couldn't tell what he was wearing. However, the sleeves on the cloak were cut off to his elbows, so one could tell that his arms were covered in scars that were starting to fade away as well as more recent scars. His light brown hair that was beginning to turn gray fell to his chin, and his eyes were covered by a pair of dark sunglasses. On his back was a bow and arrow set that was accented with many different shades of blue. Cloud key chains hung from the ends of the arrows.

"W-who are you?" Sora asked as he raised his Keyblade and entered a defensive stance. The man chuckled as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I am the grandmaster of the Ranger Nohearts. I believe I told you that already," the man replied. Sora shook his head, partially in frustration and partially in annoyance.

"I know that part! I heard you the first time with that crap! I meant your name!" Sora yelled angrily.

"Oh, well, you should have specified that. You asked who I was, not what my name was. Anyways, my name is Alastair," the man replied rather calmly. He seemed to be oblivious to Sora's annoyance and anger.

"Sora, as much as I appreciate your need for formalities, can we just get this show on the road?" Riku asked. Sora glanced over at his best friend and nodded.

"I don't see why not. Let's go!" Sora exclaimed. He thrust his Keyblade forward, pointing it at Alastair. "Charge!"

With Sora's final exclamation, the battle began. Several more Ranger Nohearts appeared and began attacking the group alongside Alastair's long range attacks. Sora, Riku, Leon, and Goofy opted to charge through the Nohearts that were protecting Alastair to get to him. Their remaining teammates that had fighting capabilities, Donald and Yuffie, stayed back and used long range attacks to help their more offensive teammates. Kairi lingered behind Donald and Yuffie, occasionally whispering commands to them with the hopes that she would be able to help in some way.

"You'll never get to me, you worthless little rats!" Alastair yelled as he shot a glowing arrow towards Goofy. He managed to put his shield up just in time for it to deflect the attack, but the arrow caused enough of an impact to send Goofy flying back towards Donald, Yuffie, and Kairi. Goofy managed to recover before hitting his teammates, but the arrow left a mark where it hit on the shield.

"Damn, that was powerful..." Leon mused aloud. "We may have to come up with a new strategy."

"No strategy you morons come up with will be able to defeat me!" Alastair taunted. Leon glanced back at him; he appeared to be preparing another arrow similar to the one that he shot at Goofy moments ago.

"I think I might have an idea, but it's going to involve ruining our weapons," Leon said. Just as he finished, Alastair released the arrow he had been charging. Leon only saw it out of the corner of his eye, but he moved in front of it, holding his gunblade similar to the way a baseball player would hold a baseball bat. A loud clanging noise was heard, and a bright flash stunned everyone near it, but the most prominent sound that was heard was that of a man yelling.

"What the hell was that?" Alastair roared. The light had faded, and everyone was recovering, but they could tell that something was wrong with Alastair's right arm. It had pretty much been blown off by the impact of the arrow's retaliation. He had also been knocked back a few feet by the force of it all. Upon closer inspection of Leon's gunblade, one could tell there was a mark similar to the one left on Goofy's shield on the gunblade.

"I figured you would know. Would you like to take a guess, Alastair?" Leon asked. He lowered his gunblade to his side, but he still kept a tight grip on it.

"I wouldn't be asking if I knew, you freakin' moron!" Alastair yelled. Leon grinned as he gestured to the mark on his gunblade, and then to the one on Goofy's shield.

"This, my friend, is what your arrow did to my gunblade and his shield. I figured that if I retaliated with the same thing, but back towards you, it would fatally harm you. It appears that what I figured was true, and if you plan on living, you would leave now or die. You might be lucky enough, and your organization will give you a prosthetic arm," Leon explained. Alastair yelled in frustration, and more Nohearts appeared. Sora, Riku, and Leon were surrounded, and Donald, Goofy, Kairi, and Yuffie were surrounded as well.

"I will not give up!" Alastair roared. "I will fight until the end! My minions, attack, and do not give up until you die!"

The heroes fought the Nohearts that had surrounded them with ease. It was as if they were fighting Heartless again. The Ranger Nohearts didn't last long against our heroes as they had been defeated in a matter of minutes. It was six against one, excluding Kairi as she was unable to fight due to a lack of skills in that category.

"Would you like to give up now?" Riku asked. Alastair only yelled again, but one could tell it was a pained yell due to the lack of his right arm.

"I will not let you worthless brats defeat me!" Alastair yelled. He prepared another arrow in his bow using only his left hand and magic. This one appeared to be much stronger than the previous two, and Leon was the first to make note of this.

"Sora, Riku, Goofy, help me out with this one! Yuffie, Kairi, and Peter, get out of the way! Donald, you can help us out too with some magic!" Leon roared. Sora and Riku got into a similar stance that Leon was in, but there was a distance of a few feet between all of them. Goofy was in front of Leon with his shield in front of him; he was ready to move away. The girls and Peter Pan had moved away from the battle, watching the boys from above. Donald was floating above the his fighting teammates, away from the majority of the action.

"You all will die now!" Alastair roared as he released the arrow. It moved at a much faster rate than anyone else had expected, but Goofy had managed to throw his shield at it and move out of the way. Goofy's shield was shattered in the process, but it managed to slow the arrow down a bit.

Leon's turn was next, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Riku and Sora pair up to try and take down the arrow on their own. Leon swung his sword at the arrow, but it only slowed the arrow down and left a hole in Leon's gunblade where the arrow had hit it.

Donald had prepared a magic barrier when Leon swung his sword. It was a light shade of green, and it didn't look very powerful. However, it was backed with a special surprise. When the arrow reached the barrier, it shattered the barrier, but the arrow was slowed down significantly. The arrow was now moving at the speed of the two before it.

Sora and Riku's Keyblades were glowing a light shade of yellow. Once the arrow had reached batting range, they hit the arrow simultaneously with their Keyblades. It regained the force that it had once before, and it was headed in the opposite direction. The opposite direction leading back to Alastair.

"No! I will not be defe- Ahhh!" Alastair yelled. The arrow pierced through him, and his ability to fly had been hampered. He had been killed by his own attacks. The group rejoiced as Alastair floated towards the ground. They hadn't even noticed the card that was floating where Alastair's body had been until he was out of their sight. Sora grabbed the card and examined it.

"What is it, Sora?" Peter Pan asked. Sora shrugged as he handed the card to Peter Pan. "It's just a blank card. This is worthless."

Peter was about to toss the card away as if it was nothing, but Leon snatched it out of his hands before he could. Peter backed away from Leon, as he now feared the older man.

"This could tell us something! We better head back to headquarters. They're probably waiting for our return now anyways," Leon said.


	10. Card Collectors

_I'm on summer vacation, finally! (: If you don't already know what this means, it means that you'll finally see more chapters of this fic! I'm hoping to get at least 2 more chapters of this up before I have to go back to school, but I doubt it'll happen. It's always good to hope though. Without further ado, I bring you chapter 10 of The Keyblade Master._

The Keyblade Master

Chapter 10 – Card Collectors

The group returned to Radiant Garden the following day, leaving Peter Pan at his home. They had left the card that they found with Cid and Aeris before going off to eat breakfast.

"I wonder if there's any more of those blank cards," Sora mused aloud in between bites of his breakfast. Their breakfast consisted of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and hash browns. Some of the people at the table had bacon and sausage as well.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there were if there's a purpose to them," Leon said.

"They're blank cards. Why would they have a purpose?" Riku asked.

"Because they're a map," Cid said. Riku jumped, and everyone else turned to face Cid.

"But they're blank!" Riku exclaimed.

"You have to look at them under a black light to see the markings. It's definitely a map though, but neither of us are sure what it's a map of," Cid explained, mostly ignoring Riku's outburst.

"Do you know how many more we'll need?" Kairi asked as she pushed her plate away from her.

"The database says there's ten commanders in total. You've killed one, I'm assuming, so that leaves nine. The map, I'm guessing, would lead to their leader, where ever he is," Aeris said.

"There's been some reports of Noheart sightings in Halloween Town," Cid added. "You'll probably find another one of those blank cards there too."

"Great, then we should go!" Sora exclaimed excitedly. "It'd be nice to see Jack again."

"Ugh, that place is so creepy," Donald said. Disgust was evident in his voice.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Several hours later, the group, minus Yuffie, who wanted to stay back, and Goofy, who lacked a weapon, was landing at Halloween Town. They scrambled out of the ship, taking in their surroundings. It was still daytime, and thus, some of the group, specifically the ones who had been to Halloween Town before, were surprised with how it looked.

"It looks so different during the day," Donald said. "I like it like this!"

"The Nohearts are probably causing this. Let's go, guys," Leon murmured, speaking up more towards the end. He led the group through the town's gates to see a rather large Noheart with a sword in its hand. Surrounding it were several more much smaller Nohearts.

"I think we've found our target," Riku said. The larger Noheart noticed Riku as he spoke, and it, as well as the rest of the Nohearts, scattered.

"Why did they scatter?" Kairi asked.

"Wait, do you guys hear that?" Sora asked. There was a faint ringing sound in the distance.

"Yeah... where's it coming from?" Riku replied. Leon walked forward cautiously, his gunblade in his hand.

"Follow me. It's getting louder," Leon said as he continued walking forward. He slowly got faster, and the rest of the group had to run to catch up to him. Leon suddenly stopped and held his gunblade in front of him. It still had a hole in it from when they had fought Alastair.

"Why are we stopping?" Donald asked, looking around curiously. Leon didn't even bother responding; there was a door in front of him, and the ringing sound was much louder now. Donald was about to tap him on the arm to get his attention, but Leon moved forward and kicked the door open. The ringing sound was much louder now, but it was quickly silenced when a skeleton in a black suit with white stripes stopped it.

"Because I'm here!" the skeleton exclaimed excitedly. "Sora, Donald, it's so nice to see you all again!"

"It's nice to see you too, Jack!" Sora replied. He didn't sound as excited as Jack Skellington, but he tried to put some sort of excitement in his voice so as not to alarm the skeleton of the problem at hand.

"Have you happened to see any black and white creatures roaming around here?" Leon inquired. He seemed to have let his guard down, but his gunblade was still by his side. "We saw some scatter when that ringing sound went off, and we wondered if that was common."

The skeleton appeared confused. It apparently had never seen these creatures that Leon was speaking of before. "I haven't seen a thing. There is something that's been ruining the upcoming Halloween festivities that are coming up soon though! I'm not sure what it is, but it could be those creatures you speak of. By the way, I'm afraid I don't know all of you. Would you, you, and you mind introducing yourselves?"

Jack pointed to Leon, Riku, and Kairi as he asked his question. Riku looked a little surprised at the fact that Jack didn't know him or Kairi, but the thought was pushed out of his head as Leon took a step forward.

"I'm Leon. That one over there is Riku, and the one next to him is Kairi," Leon replied. He gestured to Riku and Kairi as he said their names. Both of them waved at Jack, who waved back. "So you're saying that you've never seen those creatures before? Or even heard of them until just now?"

"I'm afraid that's the case, Leon. No one in Halloween Town has seen them. We'll hear an explosion and by the time we're able to react, they're gone!" Jack replied. "It hasn't been dark for days!"

"Maybe there's a way to lure them out. Have you noticed anything missing after these creatures appear?" Riku asked.

"There's been food missing, but that's about it," Jack replied. Riku's face instantly lit up at this response.

"We could lure them out with food!" Riku exclaimed. "Do we have any good food we could use to lure them out with? We'd probably need a lot if we wanted to trap them."

"We've been running out of food lately because of these creatures. I know where we're hiding it though. We could go there and see if those creatures are there," Jack said. "What are those things called anyways?"

"They're called Nohearts. We're not sure as to why they're here, but that's what we're trying to find out," Leon replied. Riku ran outside and the others followed him with Jack slowly taking the lead.

"I see. Well, hopefully we can get them out of here soon! I would hate for the Halloween festivities to be ruined because of these Nohearts!"


End file.
